Past & Present
by LonelyAquarian
Summary: Two male childhood friends reconnect as adults and explore their long-repressed feelings for each other.
1. Past: Having Fun

_It is around four in the middle of the day, and two shirtless teen boys are in the bathroom, spraying each other with silly string and cream as they are laughing their heads off._

_"Stop it!" One said through his laughter._

_"Keep still." The taller one said as he sprayed the cream in his friend's hair._

_"Looks good, right?" The smaller boy said as he ran his fingers through the foam in his hair._

_"No."_

_"Asshole!"_

_"Idiot!"_

_They both start laughing harder than ever and start spraying each other with more cream and silly string._

_The door opens and a lady sticks her head in the bathroom._

_"Are you two ready?" She asks._

_Both boys look at her._

_"__This is no place for carnival, boys." She tells them. "Let's go. We're going__ to be late."_

_She closes the door and the boys put their shirts back on, smiling at one another as they do so._

_Cyrus' mother, Leslie, is walking ahead of the dirty duo as they are still spraying each other with silly string and cream._

* * *

_"You won't get me!" TJ shouts as Cyrus chases him._

_They run until TJ hides behind Cyrus' mom. They chase each other in a perfect circle around Cyrus' mother, causing her to simply shake her head at the both of them before they run off. As she looks further, she spots TJ's mother, waves at her and walks towards her._

_"Hey TJ." A kid greets as he and Cyrus are running._

_"Hi, Rob!" _

_"Do you want to come with us to the movies?" Rob asks as he puts and arm around TJ's shoulders._

_"No, I'm __going__ to the __carnival__ with Cyrus." TJ says as he moves from Rob and puts his arm around Cyrus' shoulders._

_"The __movie __is much more fun." Rob's friend Stan says._

_"No, I'm__ staying__ with him." TJ says._

_"Let's go." Cyrus says._

_"Well, let's look for __someone__ else." Rob says to Stan as TJ and Cyrus are walking off towards their mothers._

* * *

Hey, Y'all! The Tyrus Childhood Interactions Will Be Italicized (Indicating the Past), While All Adult Tyrus Interaction Will Be In Normal Font (Indicating The Present).


	2. Present: Make-Up

It's broad daylight, and 26 year old T.J. Kippen is sitting in the passenger's side of the car while his girlfriend, Kira, is driving. He is simply looking out the window as she continues to drive, thinking deeply about something. Kira turned her head a little and ran her hand through T.J.'s hair, and he turned, giving her a small smile before her looked outside the window once more.

As they got to their hotel, T.J. immediately went the balcony and leaned against the balcony taking deep breaths.

A moment later, Kira came to the balcony.

"Hun, you know it's a costume party, right?"

T.J. turned at looked at her.

"Yes." T.J. answered.

"I've got a surprise for you."

T.J. looked at her, simply waiting for her explanation.

"So, Amber helped me to find a make up artist." Kira said, totally excited. "We're going to be turned into zombies."

She pulls out a short, hot pink Jessica Rabbit dress that was meant to be a part of her costume.

"You think it'll be good?" He asked, touching the costume.

"I thought you would like the idea." She said, beaming at him.

"I like it." T.J. told her. "But you don't like zombie movies."

"But you like it. And I wanted to make you happy." She said, putting a hand behind his head. "It means a lot for me that you are here with me."

T.J. smiled and he kissed her. T.J. was zipping up Kira's dress from the back, and when he was finished, he took a deep breath.

"There." T.J said as there was a knock at the door.

* * *

Kira stepped away from T.J. and walked away from him to answer the door.

"Hey! So you already have the costumes?" The guy asked as T.J. was getting his things together.

"Yes we have everything ready." Kira answered.

"Cyrus!" A shocked and numb T.J. greeted when he looked up.

As 25 year old Cyrus was going in to hug him. T.J. simply held his hand out for a handshake, which disappointed him, but he recovered from the shock.

T.J. swore that his heart stopped beating when he and Cyrus' hands touched.

"TJ, it's been a while." Cyrus said, still smiling at his old friend.

"So, you already know each other?" Kira asked, happy with the turn of unexpected events.

"Yes, from when we were kids." Cyrus confirmed.

"Great! Would you like a cold drink?"

"Yes, please. It's such a hot day."

"I'll be back." Kira said leaving the old friends behind.

* * *

Cyrus spread all of his make-up tools on the coffee table as a shirtless T.J. was sitting on the chair, simply waiting for Cyrus to start. Once everything was in place, Cyrus grabbed a brush, dipped it in one of the colors and moved towards T.J. getting ready to put make-up under T.J.'s left eye.

"How are you doing, 'Scary basketball guy'?" Cyrus asked his old friend.

"Good. It's been a while, right?" A fidgeting T.J. asked as Cyrus was applying the make-up onto T.J.'s face. "You look the same."

"I don't know. I would have recognized you anywhere."

"And... How are you doing?"

"Here I am." Cyrus answered.

"I need you to stay still, ok?"

T.J. stops fidgeting and finally sits still for Cyrus.

"So, you're a professional make up artist?"

"No, I work in FX." Cyrus answered. "I only do this every once in a while."

T.J. hums.

"I need you to keep your eyes closed or you'll get make up in your eye."

T.J. then stops fidgeting and sits still for Cyrus.

* * *

"Hun, can you come a minute please?" Kira asks some time later.

"Can I go?"

"Yes, sure. I'll prepare the color." Cyrus says, and T.J. walked towards the bathroom. As T.J. was walking towards the bathroom door, a slightly jealous Cyrus simply watched T.J. walking towards the door.

T.J. knocked on the door.

"Don't come in. I'm ashamed."

"I'm sure you're ok." T.J. said. "Let me take a look, come on."

"Alright." Kira said and she opened the door and came out of the bathroom with her costume on, complete with zombie make-up. "I look stupid, right?"

"Not at all." T.J answered. "You're the sexiest zombie in the world."

Cyrus had to look away as he mixed his colors harshly.

* * *

"My cousin graduated and she's throwing a party tonight at The Yacht Club."

"Awesome!" Cyrus said as he put his tools away.

"Yeah." Kira said. "Hey, you should come, it's going to be great! Amber even invited a DJ that hails from Buenos Aires."

"Sorry. I already have plans for tonight." An apologetic Cyrus told her.

"Ready!" T.J. said as he came out of the bathroom.

"Let's see. Try this on." Cyrus said, handing T.J. a jacket that once belonged to his friend.

Instead of making a comment about Cyrus keeping T.J.'s old jacket, he simply put it on.

"What do you think?"

"Yes. It looks good." T.J. answered.

"The perfect zombie." Kira said.

"You're good to go." Cyrus said.

* * *

Later on at the party, everyone was dancing to Outkast's _Hey Ya!_ except for T.J. who was simply staring at the people dancing all around him.

"Where's TJ?" Amber asked Kira.

"He's-"

T.J. then showed up and Amber walked away, leaving the couple alone to start dancing.

"Please, tell me you're not having such a bad time." Kira asked, and T.J. shook his head and Taylor Swift's _Shake it Off_ started to play.

"I'm having a great time." T.J. told her.

Kira simply smiled and they started dancing.

* * *

A few hours later before they left the party, T.J stood and looked out into the horizon, thinking about the times that he scared Cyrus to death.


	3. Past: A Scare

_Thirteen year old Cyrus was standing on the back of a moving truck with his arms above his head, simply taking in the breeze as fourteen year old T.J. was sitting down, watching his friend. A moment later, Cyrus turned around and saw T.J. looking at him with a smile on his face._

_"Come on, dumb-ass, come here."_

_T.J. simply smiles and stands up next to Cyrus._

_"Make room for me." He says as he spreads his arms out._

_"You're gonna fall." Cyrus says as he gives a small push to the side._

_"Stupid, you almost make me fall." T.J. said as he pushed Cyrus.  
_

_"You almost fell down, like this." Cyrus said as he playfully slapped T.J. across the face._

_"You're pushing me!" T.J. laughed as he playfully slapped Cyrus across the face too._

_"Remember last night?"_

_"What about it?"_

_"You hit me like this." Cyrus said as he playfully slapped T.J. across the face once more, laughing his head off when T.J. tried to swat him._

_"You stupid- Fuck!" He exclaimed as a branch hit him, causing Cyrus to laugh some more._

_This went on for the next few minutes until they arrived at the gates of Cyrus's home._

_"Come on, T.J." Cyrus said as he hopped off the truck. He went to the little dog that was lying in the sun. "Hi, buddy!"_

_The dog started barking and licking Cyrus._

_"And this little one? Is it new?" T.J. asked._

_"Yes. We got it two days before Christmas." Cyrus told him as he was petting his dog. "It's a pain-in-the-ass-dog. His name is Slifer."_

_"Looks like a breed dog." T.J. stated as he started to pet the dog._

_"It's a true mutt." Cyrus said. "But I love my little Cheagle."_

_T.J. smiled at the interaction between the dog and his best friend._

_"Guys, can you give me a hand with the boxes?" Todd says._

_"We'll be back, Slifer." Cyrus told the dog. "We love you."_

_"We sure do." T.J. says, teasing Cyrus a bit._

_"Shut your dumb-ass up."_

_Both boys leave the dog and go to the truck._

_"Here." Todd said as he handed a box to T.J. "Be careful, Teej, it's heavy."_

_"Got it, Todd." As he and Cyrus both carried a box towards the house._

* * *

_"Look at these." T.J. said as he threw the contents of his bag on the ground while Cyrus was drawing._

_Cyrus stopped drawing and moved to where T.J. was at. They started to browse through the movies that T.J. had brought over._

_"This one's passable."_

_"This one sucks for sure." T.J. said as he put Tyler Perry's Temptation on the ground._

_"This one's my favorite." Cyrus said as he referred to How to Train Your Dragon._

_"You have to see this one." T.J. said with total glee as he held up a scary movie._

_"Nope." Cyrus said, shaking his head._

_"The Return of the Living Dead is the best zombie movie in the universe!"_

_"No."_

_T.J. put the movie down as Cyrus got up from the ground. As T.J. continued to look through the movies, Cyrus snuck up behind him._

_"Brains! Brains!" Cyrus said as he ran his fingers across his best friend's neck._

_"Stop it, asshole!" T.J. said through his laughter as he pushed Cyrus' hands away._

* * *

_T.J. and Cyrus are simply walking to the alligator and snake infested waters that are nearby Cyrus' family home asking each other questions._

_"What is your level of happiness right now, Kippen?"_

_"Ehhhh...six or seven, give or take. You?"_

_"Right now, it's at eight and a half, going on nine."_

_"Damn."_

_"I know. You're totally slacking!" Cyrus teased._

_"Well guess what?"_

_"What? Chicken butt?"_

_"Nope." T.J. laughed. "Sometimes, I am happy not doing anything at all."_

_"Really? But how did you expect your summer to happen? Better yet, how were you going to survive the summer if you're happy not doing anything at all?" A confused Cyrus asked._

_"I'm not entire sure. To be honest, the one thing that I was banking on for sure was that we'd have some good drama and great romances. But who am I kidding? That never happens during our summer vacation."_

_"That's certainly true. You know what else is true?"_

_"What?"_

_"That although I am not a sporty kind of guy, I'm going to beat you to the water."_

_"And how do you know that is-"_

_Cyrus took off running, and T.J. watched him go._

_"You fucking cheat!" An impressed T.J. yelled as he heard Cyrus laughing._

* * *

_As they were standing at the edge of the water, they were laughing at the way Cyrus was throwing the pebbles across the water._

_"Four bounces." A proud T.J. said._

_"I know." An excited Cyrus said._

_"Let's see how many I get with this one."_

_T.J. threw the pebble, and it instantly sunk._

_"You didn't make it."_

_"No."_

_"Let's go."_

_"There aren't no alligators in here, right?"_

_"Yes, actually. There are alligators and snakes in there."_

_"You're kidding me?" An excited T.J. asks._

_"No, seriously." Cyrus said. "But with the mess we're making, even the fish will go away."_

_"I need to take a leak." T.J. said and Cyrus stepped away. As T.J. was peeing, Cyrus stood next to T.J. and placed his hand on T.J.'s left shoulder._

_"Wait! There are lizards too." Cyrus whispered. "Let's go."_

_"Alright." _  
_  
T.J. finished peeing and he zipped up his pants and proceeded to walk towards Cyrus._

_"Come on." Cyrus said as he was kneeling a bit._

_"Did you see them? T.J. asked._

_"Yes, there they are." Cyrus said as he pointed towards the water. "Look at them."_

_T.J. turned away from Cyrus and looked out into the water. Cyrus snickered quietly and put mud in T.J.'s shirt._

_"You prick!" T.J. laughed and they started to throw mud at each other if they weren't putting it in each others shirts. It went on until Cyrus ran into the water, took off his shirt and threw it at T.J._

_As T.J. was following Cyrus, Cyrus took off his shorts and threw it at T.J._

_T.J. followed Cyrus and threw his shorts at his friend._

_"Take this one!" Cyrus said as he threw his underwear at T.J._

_"No you didn't!" T.J. yelled at a smiling Cyrus._

_"Yes, I did!"_

_T.J. then threw Cyrus' shorts back at Cyrus._

_"Those are my shorts!" Cyrus yelled._

_"Doesn't matter. I can throw them anyway." T.J. said and they started to splash each other with water._

_Suddenly, Cyrus realized something._

_"Fuck!"_

_"What is it, Cy?"_

_"The alligators and shit!"_

_"Now you care about the alligators." T.J. teased._

_"Shut up!" A frightened Cyrus said. "Are they here?"_

_"I don't think that they are here where we're at, so they are further ahead."_

_"Ok." Cyrus said as he maneuvered his body so that he can float on his back._

* * *

_A couple hours later, it started to rain heavily._

_"We gotta get back!" Cyrus told his friend as they put their clothes on and ran back towards the house. As they were running through the rain-_

_"Ahh!" T.J. yelled as he slipped on the mud and fell to the ground._

_"T.J.!" Cyrus shrieked as he ran up to T.J. and started to shake him. "T.J!"_

_T.J. was knocked out._

_"T.J. wake up!" Cyrus said as his voice broke with his tears falling._

_Nothing._

_Absolutely nothing._

_"T.J.!" Cyrus called as his tears started to fall even harder from his eyes._

_"Brains! Brains!" T.J. suddenly said trying to tickle Cyrus, but Cyrus wasn't having it. He slapped T.J._

_Hard._

_Cyrus' slap shocked T.J._

_"Wha-"_

_"You idiot! You fucking, idiot! If something happened to you, I'd die." Cyrus said as his tears rapidly fell from his eyes._

_T.J. instantly felt guilty. He nearly scared his best friend to death._

_"I never should have done that, Cy. I'm so sorry." T.J. apologized as he hugged his crying friend. "I'm so sorry."_

_"I fucking hate you sometimes." Cyrus said through his tears as he hugged T.J. back, causing T.J. to smile._

* * *

_"How childish of you both, to get soaked like this!" Leslie scolded. "Get in the shower, right away!"_

_Both boys hung their heads._

_"What did I tell you about misbehaving?" Leslie asked Cyrus. "I don't want you to get sick."_

_Leslie left both boys in the bathroom, and Cyrus took off his clothes and hopped in the shower as T.J. sat on the floor._

_"Come on in. You're freezing." Cyrus said as he heard T.J.'s teeth chattering._

_"Are you sure? I'd-"_

_"Shut the fuck up and just get your tall ass in here!"_

_T.J. took off his clothes and hopped in the shower with Cyrus and showered together. A few minutes later, Cyrus managed to make a Mohawk out of T.J.'s hair with the shampoo._

_"Cy?"_

_"Yeah?"_

_"I'm really sorry for earlier. I didn't meant to-"_

_"Stop it." Cyrus said. "I forgive you. Just, please don't do that to me again. It really scared me to death."_

_T.J. nodded, noting Cyrus' voice go all soft and quiet with tears filling up his eyes._

_"Feeling better?" He asked Cyrus as he hugged his friend, and Cyrus nodded._

_"You're not so cold anymore, right?" Cyrus asked, blinking the tears away._

_As T.J. was about to answer, Leslie stuck her head in the bathroom._

_"Boys!"_

_"Yes, mom?" Cyrus yelled._

_"Hurry up! Get dressed!" Leslie said. "Dinner is ready."_

_"Ok." Both boys answered as they finished their shower._


	4. Present: Hanging Out

A couple of nights later at the local carnival, T.J and Kira are walking hand-in-hand through the dirty street when Kira stops walking.

"Do you want popcorn?"

"Yes, fine."

She walks to the popcorn booth.

"Hello, how much is it?" T.J. hears as he continued to walk.

"Two buck." The guy told her.

Suddenly, T.J. stops walking.

He's spotted a smiling Cyrus, receiving a hug from a tall guy.

His heart does a jump, but he's also pouting.

"Hey, look! It's your friend!" Kira said, pointing to Cyrus.

She ran up to him while T.J. quickly followed her.

"Hello!" She greeted Cyrus, giving him a big hug.

"How are you?"

"I'm good. How are you?

"Fine." Cyrus answered. "How was the party?"

"Awesome!" Kira answered with a huge smile on her face.

"My cousin was really happy!"

"That's great!"

"Hey, you didn't pick up your jacket." T.J. told him. "I can bring it to you, if you want to."

"Don't worry about it." Cyrus said, waving it off as confetti was falling from the sky. "I can stop by one of these days to pick it up."

Kira and T.J. simply nodded.

"Shall we go, Iris?" Cyrus asked the girl that he was with, and she nodded. "Enjoy the carnival."

"Goodbye." Iris said.

"Bye!" Kira said before Cyrus went on his own way. "Let's grab something to eat."

"No, I'm tired." T.J. said as he shook his head.

"What if we go to the canteen?"

"No It's going to be fully packed. Could we just go home please? I'm really tired, hun."

"Don't be like that..." An annoyed Kira started, but he shook his head at her. "It's so hard with you and your phobias..."

"What?" T.J. asked. "What phobias?"

Kira simply stared at her boyfriend.

"No, hun. I'm sick of being with this many people. I can't stand it anymore." T.J. told her.

"Alright, we'll go home but next time, give me a map to understand what you want." An irritated Kira said as she stared him.

* * *

Later that night, T.J. was on his laptop going through Cyrus' Facebook account. He was supposed to be looking for Cyrus' address but he got caught up with looking at his old friend's selfies and self-portraits.

"T?" Kira called from the kitchen, and quickly got Cyrus' address and closed his laptop.

* * *

The next day, T.J. was walking down a nice neighborhood with his old jacket in hand, simply looking at the houses that he was passing by. When he finally got to Cyrus' doorstep, T.J. took a mint, ran his hand through his hair, took a deep breath and rang the doorbell.

Suddenly, a dog started to bark from the other side of the door.

"Calm down, Growlie." T.J. heard before the door opened.

"T.J.!" Cyrus greeted with a smile on his face. "Hi!"

"Hello. I thought I'd bring your jacket back."

Cyrus smiled.

"Come on in. I was finishing plastering the kitchen. Come in." Cyrus said and T.J. stepped into his house. "You came outside at the worst time of day."

"Yeah." T.J. said as he followed Cyrus through the house. "It's so hot, I can't stand it."

"Well, thanks again."

As T.J. was about to hand Cyrus the jacket,

"Hold on, let me wash my hands." Cyrus said. "Let's go the garage."

"Sure, no problem."

Cyrus went straight to the faucet by the garage and washed his hands from messing with plaster.

"So, how's life treating you?"

"Fine." T.J. answered. "It's fine. Sometimes, it can be too much though."

Cyrus chuckles as he leads his old friend inside the garage.

"May I?" T.J. asks as he looks at the little trinkets that Cyrus made.

"Sure!" Cyrus said, and T.J. picked up a little handmade figure. "I made all of them with the help of my friend Andi."

"This one is great." T.J. said with a chuckle as he picked up another figure that resembled Harry Potter.

"That's my favorite."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Cyrus smiled. "Anyway, do you have some time to drink some lemonade?

"Yeah actually. Kira is out with some friends." T.J. said, looking around the garage as Cyrus got the drink from the little fridge. The garage was filled with movie posters and pictures of candid moments.

Cyrus nodded.

"She gave me your address." T.J. lied, but Cyrus didn't pick up on it.

"I'll get some ice from inside the house." Cyrus said as he went back into the house.

Suddenly, a shirtless man came into the garage.

"Hello." The guys said, knocking T.J. out of his thoughts.

"Hi." T.J. said as the guy put his shirt on. "Um, how are you?

"Fine." The guy answered, and Cyrus entered the garage once more.

"Oh! Let me introduce you." Cyrus said. "Jonah, this is T.J., my old friend. T.J., this is Jonah."

"Nice to meet you." T.J. said as he and Jonah met halfway and shook hands.

"Maybe we could hangout one day?" Jonah asked.

"Maybe." T.J. answered.

"He's the best." Cyrus started as he put the ice on the little table. "He's giving me a hand with all the housework."

"Ready?" Jonah said.

"Let's go." Cyrus said.

"See you later, T.J. I hope we can all hang out together one day." Jonah said as Cyrus escorted him towards the house.

T.J. watched them walk off and he crossed his arms. He wanted to run away. As he huffed, his phone started to ring and he pulled out his phone.

"Hello?" He answered. "Yes? No. I'll be back by Monday." He answered as he spotted an old picture of him and Cyrus when they were teenagers. T.J. took the picture off the wall, sat down on the couch and smiled at the picture, not even noticing Cyrus enter the garage and briefly staring at him. "Yes, I already sent the files."

Cyrus sat next to him and put ice in the cups that he brought.

"Sure. As soon as possible. Goodbye."

He hung up the phone and pocketed his phone and looked at Cyrus.

Cyrus took the pitcher of lemonade and poured the drink in the cups.

"You thought he was my boyfriend, right?" Cyrus asked as he put the pitcher down.

T.J.'s mind screamed _'Yes!'_ but he answered-

"N-no!"

"Come on, you almost left."

"No way." An adamant T.J. answered.

"He's not my type." Cyrus answered as he gave his friend his drink. "And I don't have a boyfriend."

For some reason, that instantly calmed T.J. down, a lot, as he drank the lemonade.

Cyrus took a good look at T.J.'s face.

"Your face is all dirty. Where have you been? Just like when we were kids."

Suddenly, Cyrus got off the couch and went to a little box that was on a bookshelf. He went through the envelope of pictures and started to browse through them.

"Here it is." Cyrus said, handing his friend the picture.

"Wow, look at this picture!" A beaming T.J. exclaimed. "Your mom used to take pictures of us all the time. And this one!" He said looking at another picture. "I can't believe she took a picture of our mud mustache."

Cyrus chuckled.

"No, it's not mud." Cyrus said as he shook his head. "It's food. Look! We were always forced to eat because we were always stuck in our own world."

"You're right. It's chocolate from the chocolate chip muffins."

"Yes, that's it."

"We were so weird."

"We had a thing for muffins, swings and baby tater tots." Cyrus said as he remembered the days that he spent with his best friend. "You liked it."

"Yes, but you liked it too, didn't you?" T.J. asked.

Cyrus stood up and went outside.

"So you moved out to the city, then?" Cyrus asked as he brought back a platter of muffins.

"Yeah." T.J. answered. "I got a good job."

"I'm sure you studied Biology." Cyrus stated. "Anything to do with the animals?

"Actually, no and no. I studied History." T.J. said as he took a muffin, and bit into it, moaning at the taste. "I still love blueberry macadamia muffins. I forgot about them."

Cyrus shook his head fondly at his friend.

"You don't love animals anymore?"

"I still love animals, but History was my favorite subject." T.J. said after he swallowed the piece of muffin he ate. "I had forgotten about eating muffins. And I forgot a bit about the animals that we loved too. I work in research now."

"I can't believe you forgot about blueberry macadamia muffins. You used to love them. If you didn't know it before, it was me who used to put it in the basket. Sure, my mom kept forgetting to put some in the basket like majority of the time after I'd make and bake them, so I always got it to make sure there was enough."

"I did not know." T.J. said before he took another bite.

"I was that fan." Cyrus said. "So, research, huh?"

"Yup. Artifacts and dates are truly fun." An excited T.J. answered.

Cyrus simply chuckled.

"Old history? Current history?"

"Just history." T.J. said as he polished off his muffin. "I prefer fieldwork but history is history, and those who don't know their history are doomed to repeat it.

Cyrus shook his head and smiled.

"And the money should be good." Cyrus stated even though it sounded like a question.

"Yeah, money's good." T.J. confirmed. "What about you?"

"I actually studied Film making." Cyrus said as he picked up a muffin of his own. "And then after that, I started working in special effects and took up freelancing."

"I see."

"If there's no other choice, I'll go to work in L.A or New York."

"And how is it?"

"I'm not rich, but it's great." Cyrus answered truthfully. "Sometimes I get scared thinking I'm wasting my time. And sometimes I don't."

T.J. was about to say something when his phone rang. He looked at who called him and his happiness drained.

"Sorry." He told Cyrus before he picked up the phone. "Hello, hun. Yes... OK, fine."

Cyrus simply listened to the conversation as he poured more lemonade into his cup and continued to eat his muffin.

"Yeah, if you want we can meet for dinner later. Ok. Fine. Bye."

And with that, T.J. hung up the phone.

"I have to take some pieces downtown." Cyrus told him after a few minutes of silence. "I can drop you on the way, if you want."

"Ok cool. I still have some time. If you want I can go with you."

"Ok." Cyrus said and he got up and walked away.

A few minutes later, they walked to Cyrus' vehicle.

"The old truck. Still working?" T.J. asked and Cyrus laughed.

"You always did like old rusty cars." Cyrus said as they got in his vehicle. "But it still takes me where I want."

"That is seriously cool."

"I think so too."

* * *

"And the estate still exists?"

"My dad is lost. Between the houses, economy and the tourism..."

"Got it. Did he and your other three parents sell the house?"

"No, my dad will never give in. Being the son to 4 therapists is cool, but the arguments that they came up with for not selling the house... it was so boring to hear." Cyrus said as they got to Cyrus' destination.

T.J. chuckled as he and Cyrus got out of the car with both of Cyrus' boxes and started to walk down the street.

"Do you know anything more about dinosaurs? You know, before I told you what I know about them?"

"I still have no idea what to learn about them." T.J. admitted and Cyrus started to laugh.

"And you, instead of bullshitting with why don't you come working here in the city?"

"I studied for that but I started working for Kira's father. And the projects I work on are pretty good."

"It's over there." Cyrus said as he pointed to the little shop that was in the corner of the street. As they got into the store, Mariah Carey's _It's Like That _was blasting through the store.

"Buffy!" Cyrus greeted, and the woman with the curly hair looked up from what she was doing.

"Cyrus!" They hugged each other.

"How are you?" T.J. greeted with a hand shake.

"I'm great!" Buffy answered before she opened one of the boxes that T.J. placed on the counter. "Action figures, Cy?"

"Yes." Cyrus answered, and T.J. stepped away from them to look around the store.

Buffy took out some of the figures and started to examine them as Mariah Carey's _We Belong Together_ started to play.

"So... new boyfriend?" Buffy quietly asked, and Cyrus chuckled and took a quick glance at T.J. who turned around when Cyrus caught him looking at them.

"No. No, no, no. He's just a friend, T.J."

Buffy smiled at him, winked, took the boxes and walked away from her friend. Cyrus turned to look at T.J. who quickly turned around when Cyrus caught him looking at him once more.

* * *

It's about an hour later and both men decided to have an actual meal for lunch. Cyrus was simply swaying from left to right as T.J. put his drink down.

"So the house is still there?" T.J. asked.

"Yes, a bit ruined but still there." Cyrus confirmed.

"Great, and the garden?"

"Flawless. I still don't get how my mom or Sharon does it."

"With a little bit of TLC." T.J. simply answered.

Both men chuckled at that statement and clinked glasses with one another.

"You know, my mom asked me to bring some stuff to the house one of these days, and I'm free this weekend. When are you leaving?"

"On Monday. I have to be back at work."

Suddenly, T.J.'s eyes were covered by a pair of hands.

"Hey, Kira." He said. She smiled, uncovered his eyes and they pecked each others lips.

"I was just about to call and I saw you." Kira explained as she put the shopping bags down on the ground and sat down next to her boyfriend. "What are you guys up to?

"I was telling him that I have to go to the summer house to bring some stuff for my mom." Cyrus explained. "If you guys want to come, my parents would be delighted."

"This is really bad timing. I had plans tomorrow with Libby. She and I are helping Natalie with the new furniture. I totally forgot about it. Why don't you guys go? I can stay with the girls."

"A day in the country." T.J. said, deeply happy in the inside.

"My parents will be glad to see you again." Cyrus said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, definitely." Kira answered for T.J. "You always talk about the Goodman estate. It's been a while since you've been there."

"Ok, yes fine." T.J. relented. "I'll pick you up, but on one condition."

Cyrus sighed dramatically, causing Kira to laugh.

"We'll take Kira's car. As much as I dig your ride, I don't trust this old truck of yours. That old truck will get us stuck in the middle of the road."

"I didn't know that you're such a sissy now." Cyrus said, causing the Kira to laugh out loud.

"I'll go to the restroom." T.J. said and he walked away from the other two.

"Cyrus, I have to know, were you very close friends?" Kira asked.

"I guess you could say that. Our parents were friends actually." Cyrus explained. "We spent a lot of time together. Especially during summer time."

Kira cooed at that as Cyrus took a sip of his drink.

"T.J. always talks about the estates, your family house, the environment, the animals. He told me that he even remembers the names of the plants his mom used to have." Kira said.

"The gardening fanatic was my mom. Actually, it was -and is- still my mom and my step mom who are obsessed with gardening."

"I don't get it." A confused Kira said. "'That house belongs to your family?"

"Of course. When we were younger, I would go every summer over there with my mom and step dad or I'd go with my dad and step mom. T.J. used to come with us."

"But... T.J. has never told me about you." Kira frowned causing Cyrus to shrug nonchalantly.

"Knowing him, I'm not surprised." Cyrus answered as he took another sip of his drink, leaving Kira highly confused and a little hurt.

* * *

It's currently nightfall, and T.J is spooning Kira after having one boring round of sex together. He always found sex with Kira boring, but he'd never admit that.

"The first time that I made love with somebody..." Kira started. "He was my boyfriend. Everybody thought that we would be together. But it didn't work."

"Did you love him?" T.J. asked her as he ran his hand down Kira's right arm.

"Yes, sure. He was handsome, intelligent, we were close... But sometimes it's not enough. It didn't work. I tried." Kira said. "Sometimes I have the impression that our story is a bit like that."

T.J. sat up.

"How?" A confused T.J. asked her.

"Like me with him." Kira answered. "When I was next to him and - I always had to remind myself that I loved him, you know?"

T.J. stayed silent and laid down on his back.

"Can we stay here tomorrow?" Kira asked as she rolled over and laid down on top of him. "We could stay in bed and relax all day long." T.J. was about to say something when Kira spoke up. "And don't tell me that I've made plans with the girls and that I can't stand them up."

"Don't be lazy." T.J. dismissed as he moved Kira's body off of his. He moved from the bed and started to move towards the kitchen after he put on his underwear.

"You really want to go back, don't you?" Kira asked as she covered her body with the sheets.

"I want to see to the farm." T.J. answered from the kitchen. "Are you thirsty?"

Kira turned to her side and sighed heavily.


	5. Past: Dancing

_Several nights later, Cyrus is having dinner with his mom, step-dad, T.J. and his parents on an unusually cold summer's night in the backyard._

_"You can't say that all the companies are the devil." T.J.'s dad told Todd as Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time was beginning to play in the background. "They all do what we know they do. I'm working at one of them and it seems to me things are better now._

_"For sure." T.J.'s dad said as Cyrus sneaked a sip of his mom's wine._

_"Want some?" Cyrus quietly asked his friend, and T.J. shook his head and declined._

_"Are you going to tell me that the county are better with the wineries?"_

_"Not the county, but the city is."_

_"The city?_ _Geneva?" Leslie asked._

_"Yes, Geneva. With the vineyards that are available, I might have a chance at winning one of those competitions over there." T.J.'s dad answered._

_The conversation goes dead for a moment, and both Cyrus and T.J. start beating on the table to Time After Time._

_"You don't want them to miss this." Todd said and T.J.'s dad picked up his glass, taking a long sip of wine._

_"We're getting too serious suddenly." T.J.'s mom said. "Remember what it was like growing up here."_

_Leslie hummed in agreement as she grabbed both Cyrus and T.J.'s hands and started to dance with the two teenage boys. Somewhere along the way, T.J. and Cyrus ignored Leslie and started to slow dance to Mariah Carey's Always Be My Baby. About halfway through the song, T.J. caught his father's puzzled expression, stepped away and sat down next to his mom, leaving Leslie and Cyrus to slow dance with each other. T.J.'s mom ran her hand down her son's back, and smiled at him when he looked at her before turning back to watch his best friend and his mother dancing._

_"Yes, but things change." T.J.'s dad said causing his wife to sigh and clear the table._

_"Is that why you already accepted the offer in Geneva_ _and all the money it brings to you?" Todd asked._

_"Years go by and you don't understand a thing. I'm still thinking about the offer."_

_"So, are you going to tell me that you like working in privatization?"_

_"No, what I like is money. And work brings money."_

_"Money is money and work is just work." Todd says. "Money is good to have but it doesn't make me happy in the slightest. My family makes me happy."_

_T.J.'s dad polishes off his drink._

_"Well, since the girls are not serving dessert, I'll get myself a whiskey." He says with a smile as he gets up from his seat. "Anyone want anything?"_

_"That old man of yours is a caveman." Todd tells T.J. causing him to laugh._

_"He sure is." T.J.'s mom said in agreement as she picked up a small stack of plates from the table._

_"Leslie, look at him dancing." Todd says to his wife and they turn to look at Cyrus dancing alone to the last few moments of Always Be My Baby._

_Leslie chuckles and shakes her head fondly at her son._

_T.J.'s father comes out of the house with a big bottle of whiskey._

_"Here you go, Todd. As promised, one bottle of whiskey."_

_"Awesome." Todd said as he opened the bottle._

_"In this house nobody ever skips dessert." Leslie told the others that were still at the table._

_"Leslie and I baked the cake my grandmother taught me." T.J.'s mom said._

_"We'll be back." Leslie said as both women took the plates and the other used items to the kitchen._

_"Cheers!" T.J.'s dad said as he lifted his glass that was now full of whiskey._

_"Cheers!"_

_As far as T.J. was concerned, he had a good time watching Cyrus dance alone to Heatwave's Always and Forever. Moments later, he smiled to himself and decided to slow dance with Cyrus once more all while humming along to the song. What they both failed to notice was their parents were simply smiling and shaking their heads at their teenage boys._

_"So... here's to being future family members?" T.J.'s father asks as he raises his glass._

_"I suppose so." A smiling Todd says as they clink glasses and take a drink from them._

* * *

_Later that night, Cyrus is lying in his bed with only his underwear on, while an almost naked T.J. is on the floor, shivering._

_"Come here." Cyrus told him as he proceeded to pat on the empty side of his bed. "You're freezing."_

_T.J. abandoned his sleeping spot and got into Cyrus' bed and covered himself with the sheets. As T.J. had his back on Cyrus, Cyrus took it upon himself to blow warm air from his mouth onto his friend's back before running his hand across T.J.'s back. Cyrus repeated the action several times before T.J. faced him. They now faced each other and stared into one another's eyes. Cyrus then reached down into T.J.'s underwear and started to stroke his length._

_"Are you okay?" Cyrus asked his best friend._

_"Yes, I am." T.J. answered as he moaned a little, causing Cyrus to smile before T.J. did the same thing to Cyrus._


	6. Present: Bonding

"I can't believe that you made me drive someone else's car." Cyrus said as he was driving up to his family estate and T.J. simply chuckled.

"I should take a look around." T.J. said.

Cyrus looked at him quizzically.

"It's called professional research." T.J. defended causing Cyrus to chuckle.

As Cyrus continued to drive, T.J. simply looked out of the window and took in the sights. He'd forgotten how beautiful the place was.

"Can you open the gate please?" Cyrus asked a few minutes later as they got to the gates of the Goodman estate.

"Ok."

T.J. got out the car and walked to the gate, unbeknownst to him that Cyrus was checking him out.

Cyrus honked the horn out after a minute of waiting for a daydreaming T.J. to actually open the gate

"Dude!" T.J. yelled as he finally opened up the gate. "Don't do what your father used to do."

Cyrus actually laughs at that and drives forward. After he passed the gates, he stepped on the brake and waited for T.J. to close the gate and get back in the car.

"It's strange that my dad's car's not here." Cyrus said once he the car after he parked in the driveway. Both men get out of the car and take out their belongings from the backseat.

"The garden hasn't changed." T.J. stated.

"Nope."

T.J. continued to look around the house when-

"No way! Don't tell me that's Slifer!"

"Hi, Slifer!" Cyrus greeted, and an excited Slifer barked at him. When Slifer saw T.J. however, he ran toward him and rapidly licked his face.

"Yesterday I talked with my mom, she was happy to see you again." Cyrus said as T.J. was bonding with Slifer. After a few minutes of playing, T.J. followed Cyrus into the house.

"Wow." T.J. said to himself.

It was as if nothing had changed, but everything changed and he still felt like it was home.

"It's weird that they didn't get here yet." Cyrus told him as he was opening the curtains and opened up some of the windows with T.J.'s help.

"They shouldn't be long now."

"Kira thought this house belonged to your family."

"Really? Strange..." T.J. said, frowning.

"She said you always talk about the estuaries." Cyrus told him. "But you never told her about me."

"Really?" A still frowning T.J. asked as he spotted a picture of him and Cyrus on a hammock when they were teens.

"Let's go for a walk."

"Ok." T.J. answered.

Cyrus grabbed his bag and took out a Tupperware, filled with muffins.

"Such great logistics!"

"I know." Cyrus said as he gave the Tupperware to T.J. to hold as he dug through his back once more.

"Is there a blueberry macadamia muffin in there for me?"

"Obviously, young grasshopper."

T.J. smiled.

"Fill it up." Cyrus said as he took out the sun block from his bag and applied it on his skin.

"Are you serious?" T.J. asked as Cyrus gave him the sun block.

"Yes." Cyrus answered as T.J. applied the sun block on his face. "You don't mess with the sun over here." He said as he spread the cream that T.J. had missed on his friend's cheek. "I know I'm not that sporty, but are you up for some rowing?"

"Sure."

* * *

"This way." Cyrus said as he led T.J. to the lake.

"Cyrus, let's play a game."

"A game?"

"Yes, like we used to." T.J. said as they got in the row boat.

"Alright, let's play. What kinda game are we gonna play?"

"Let's just play 20 questions. I'm pretty sure that some of our answers have changed from however long ago."

"Deal. Me first." Cyrus said. "Favorite _That's So Raven _episode?"

"_A Dog by Any Other Name_. That episode still cracks me up." T.J. answered. "It never gets old, especially when Raven spit her water in Eddie's face. Favorite drink?"

"Coconut water." Cyrus said as he took out a joint and lit it.

"Since when did you start smoking weed?" A shocked T.J. asked and Cyrus chuckled.

"Towards the end of high school." Cyrus smirked. "And since that was a question, it's my turn. What's your go-to song to sing in the shower?"

"_Only the Good Die Young_. Embarrassing moment?"

"I threw up in my shoe once."

T.J. started laughing.

"Story time!"

"T.J." Cyrus whined.

"I'm listening!"

* * *

"My favorite spot. It feels strange to be here with somebody else." Cyrus said when they got to a pretty spot at the lake.

"Didn't you bring anybody here in all this time?" T.J. asked as Cyrus took out another joint and lit it.

"This is the Sleeping Beauty's castle, where nobody has ever come to kiss her."

"You're so funny."

"You know, Teej, It's easier for me to share the monsters than these things." Cyrus simply said. "Anyway, it just never happened, and I just couldn't share this with anybody."

"It looks really...pretty amazing."

T.J. tied a rope to a broken tree stump, took off his shirt, got out the row boat, and stepped away from the boat and walked towards wide open space of water. Cyrus put down his joint and did the same thing that T.J. did. When they were comfortable, they started to splash each other with water like they did when they were younger. They were having so much fun splashing and swimming around that they went at it for a long time.

* * *

"I'm starving and I didn't even realize it." T.J. said as he took a muffin from the Tupperware.

"I know I did." Cyrus said as he took a muffin for himself and placed the container down next to him. "My belly was calling out to me."

"No, I didn't realize how much I missed all of this." T.J. said as they were looking at the sun starting to set.

"The beauty of the estate does call you."

It goes quiet for a moment as they eat their muffins.

"Yes, but it's not only that. Sometimes I think what would have happened if..."

"If you hadn't left?"

"Yes."

"I can picture it." Cyrus says smugly. "You'd be a real local. Then later on in life, we could have ended like Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn."

"You're so crappy sometimes." T.J. huffed. "Don't you ever wonder?"

"Yes, of course I do."

"And?"

"I wonder what it would be like to wake up with someone that you really want to be there with you."

"Alright. That's fine." T.J. asked as he chuckled a bit. "Now are you going to tell me that you dream of growing old with someone?"

"Of course, Tom Sawyer." Cyrus answered. "And of buying blue shirts or something amazing for him."

T.J. shook his head.

"Sometimes I feel like you are dampened." Cyrus told him.

"Dampened?" An offended T.J. repeated.

"Yes, dampened. Like those old TVs in hotel rooms which can only get the volume up to certain level."

"Really?"

"Just like that."

T.J. scoffed.

"But not always. Like right now." Cyrus told him.

"Maybe... Maybe I am dampened. But what about you?" T.J. challenged, getting angry. "You're the _Bonsai Kid_."

"A fine super hero."

"You don't even look for a good job; you don't make big time movies. Your love stories are so bonsai. One or two good fucks, a goodbye and that's it."

"It's not all the same, man. And by the way, you and Kira are not really examples to follow, are you?"

"What do you know about Kira?!"

"No need to know more from what I've seen based on your interaction with her." Cyrus said with lot of sass in his voice.

T.J. took a large bite of his muffin.

"I don't know-"

"It doesn't work for me." Cyrus said. "Things happen. But when something else should happen, it just doesn't."

"Join the club. Sorry."

T.J. takes another bit from his muffin as Cyrus simply looks at his barely eaten muffin before turning to look at T.J.

"The Return of the Savage Muffin."

"Wha-"

Cyrus snatched the blueberry macadamia muffin and squished it into T.J.'s face.

"Fuck off, you fucking son of a bitch!" T.J. yelled as a laughing Cyrus got up and ran away from T.J. "I'm going to kill you!"

* * *

It's raining hard. As soon as the sun had set, it had started to rain causing T.J. and Cyrus to return to land. When they got close to land, they hopped out of the boat. T.J. ran under a tree and simply stood there, enjoying the rain drops falling on him as Cyrus docked the boat

"Come on Teej, come here!" Cyrus yelled as he ran towards the house. As they got to the house, Cyrus opened the door, he grabbed T.J.'s hand and pulled him into the house and closed the door.

"Do you think we'll be able to move the car?" T.J. asked Cyrus as Cyrus ran towards a room.

"Yes I think so." Cyrus said as he came back into the living room with clean, warm clothes. He put two sets of clothes on the couch and took off his drenched shirt. "It's going to be tough, but we can give it a try."

"Fucking hell! And it's Kira's car!" T.J. exclaimed as Cyrus was now putting on a new, long sleeved shirt that he brought out.

"We can stay here for the night. My parents will be here tomorrow morning." Cyrus said as he took off his bottoms and put on dry ones from the couch.

"Ok, I'll try later on."

"Nice little outfit, huh?" Cyrus asked as he was now in dry, comfortable clothing.

Cyrus was posing a bit and T.J. wasn't even noticing how Cyrus was standing. He simply took off his shirt and his bottoms, and then he put on dry clothes that Cyrus had brought out. Once he was dressed, he and Cyrus sat down on individual couches and opened up a bottle of tequila and poured a glass for Cyrus and himself.

"I'm going to grab a towel." T.J. said and he left the room. As he left the room, Slifer came into the room and ran to Cyrus, who in turn ran his hand through his fur.

"Did you get wet from the rain, Sly?" He cooed. He spent a few minutes petting Slifer when T.J. came back into the living room, trying to dry his hair with a towel.

"Here you go, Cy."

"Thanks." Cyrus said as he took the towel and dried his hair.

"No prob." T.J. said. He took a deep breath and looked at the pictures that were in plain sight. As he was looking at them, he spotted a particular picture of when he and Cyrus first got each other off when they were teens on a bookshelf that he never thought he'd see again.

"Remember...?"

"When my mom took this picture?" Cyrus finished, and T.J. nodded. "Don't you?"

T.J. nodded once more, trying to keep some kind of emotion down his throat that he hadn't felt in years. He sighed as Cyrus continued to pet Slifer.

"Did it happen again to you?" Cyrus asked after a full minute of complete silence.

"No." T.J. answered.

"I see."

"But it surely happened to you." T.J. stated.

"Not like this." Cyrus admitted as he looked up at T.J. for a moment. "Did you get in touch with Kira?"

T.J. ignored the question and started to pace in front of the bookshelf that held the picture that made him feel very nostalgic.

It was driving him mad.

Minutes later, he took a seat on the couch across from Cyrus. He took a minute to gather his thoughts, but when they did come, he asked a question that he really wanted the answer to.

"How was it?" T.J. asked.

"What?" Cyrus asked as he looked his friend's eyes.

T.J. paused before he finally spoke.

"Your first time."

Cyrus paused and looked down for a moment to consider the question.

"The first time after you, you mean?"

T.J. sat for a moment and braced himself for the answer that he was going to receive.

"Yes." T.J. nodded after a moment of silence.

"I was anxious." Cyrus admitted. "It's a long form to fill in. And yours?"

"Chronically clumsy."

Cyrus chuckled, causing T.J. to smile brightly.

"To life, health and strength!" T.J. said as he lifted his glass.

"Ditto, plus love." Cyrus said as he clinked his glass with T.J.

They take a sip.

"Your dad was a tough guy."

"Yes. He still is. But let's not talk about that." T.J. said before he took another small sip of his tequila. "Do you have ice?"

"Yes, in the kitchen." Cryus answered as he motioned towards the kitchen with his head.

T.J. put his glass on the coffee table and went to the kitchen.

"I can't believe you still have the same old fridge." T.J. exclaimed causing Cyrus to laugh to himself as he was still petting Slifer.

"Shit!"

Cyrus looks up and makes his way towards the kitchen. He sees T.J. trying to fix the handle.

"Let me. I can fix it in a minute." Cyrus told his friend.

After a few seconds of trying to fix it himself, T.J. got mad and gave up.

"If it's so easy, go ahead and do it." A frustrated T.J. suggested as he motioned to the fridge.

Cyrus moved towards the fridge and got on his knees to get a better look at the handle.

"Can you give me the screws?" Cyrus asked, at T.J. who then stared at the floor. Cyrus picked them up and put the screws in the holes. "Can you give me that knife please?"

T.J. grabbed a small paring knife.

"I thought you could fix it alone."

This time, Cyrus looked at his friend and glared at him before he snatched the knife from his friend.

As Cyrus was fixing the handle to perfection, T.J. simply watched with a bit of anger flooding his veins.

"It's so easy for you." He said, completely annoyed.

"T.J., it's just a fridge."

The statement irritated T.J., but for different reasons.

"You know what?" T.J. started. "Go fuck yourself, the estate, and all this shit!"

"What the fuck are you talking about, T.J.?" A confused Cyrus asked as he finished fixing the handle, but T.J. walked away from Cyrus.

T.J. ran out of the house and all the way to Kira's car rain in the pouring rain. He opened the car door and simply sat in the driver's seat, breathing heavily and began to think. As he sat in the car for quite some time, he realized what that feeling that he couldn't identify earlier when he saw that picture of him and Cyrus when they were teenagers.

_Love._

Sure, he's dated a few people after Cyrus and had been in two serious relationships, but no one that he met would never, ever compare with Cyrus.

"Stop being a pussy." T.J. told himself. He got out of the car and made his way back into the house. As he got back inside the house, Cyrus was simply looking at the picture himself. He went to the kitchen and got a few ice cubes and went to the living room.

"Are two ice cubes ok?"

Cyrus turned around.

"Fine." Cyrus said as he lifted his glass, and T.J. dropped the ice cubes into his and Cyrus' glass. They clinked glasses once more and took a small sip from their glass. After his sip, T.J. moved to the radio and turned it on. As soon as he turned it on, Taylor Swift's _Shake it Off _started to play from the beginning causing T.J. to smile and dance. Cyrus smiled and joined in. As the song was ending, T.J. took one of Cyrus' joints and lit it up.

"You wanna hit?" T.J. asked after he took a hit.

Cyrus smiled.

"Of course."

"Of course..." T.J. smiled once Cyrus grabbed the joint and took a hit. "And since you're in a disco full of people..."

Cyrus started to laugh.

"What's your zodiac sign?"

"Virgo." T.J. answered. "What about you?"

"Being gay." Cyrus answered, causing them to laugh. "And you?"

"I'm a history nerd who teaches history."

"And outside of teaching history, are you happy?"

T.J. turned around and started slow dancing to Mariah Carey's _Always be My Baby_. As soon as he saw Cyrus simply standing and looking out the window, he stopped dancing.

"The rain's not going to stop." Cyrus said as he was looking out the window.

T.J. turned off the radio once the song finished and he decided to make his move. He walked up to Cyrus and stood behind him, heart beating like crazy. Seconds later, Cyrus had simply turned around and looked up into T.J.'s eyes. They stared into each others eyes. T.J. gave into his feelings, proceeded to lean in and give Cyrus a chaste kiss. When he pulled away, they looked into each others eyes for a few seconds before Cyrus grabbed T.J.'s face and started to full-on make out with him. They were fighting for dominance, but in the end, T.J. won. They started to take off each other's shirts and moved to the couch all without breaking their kiss. As soon at they got to the couch, T.J. took off his shorts and he took off Cyrus' shorts while Cyrus was running his hands all over T.J.'s back.

* * *

"Fuck. Right there." Cyrus moaned as T.J. was kissing his neck and thrusting into him. At this point, T.J. can't help but take care of Cyrus the way he was supposed to be taken care of. The act of making love to Cyrus fulfilled him in ways that he's always craved and wanted from someone.

"Are you okay?" T.J. asked as he was moving in and out of Cyrus at a decent.

Cyrus smiled and kissed T.J. on the lips.

"More than, Thelonoius." He answered as he wrapped his legs around T.J.'s back.

T.J. smiled as he kissed Cyrus back and continued to make love to Cyrus.

* * *

Hours later, both men are sleeping and are on the couch with their limbs tangled up together. They were in a deep slumber, but were awoken by a loud truck causing them to wake up. When they were abe to gain consciousness, they heard a woman's voice.

"Your parents!" T.J. exclaimed. He grabbed both his and Cyrus' clothes, picked Cyrus up and ran towards Cyrus' room, closed the door, locked it and climbed into the bed.

"The dog is inside the house again." They heard Todd say and T.J. and Cyrus cuddled.

"Shit, your parents scared me." T.J. whispered as he was looking into Cyrus' eyes.

"No, shit, Shirlock." Cyrus teased.

They looked in each other's eyes, thanks to the moonlight that was shining in the bedroom.

"Cyrus, I don't want to sleep." T.J. whispered.

"So...you want me to _'Fo' Shizzle Yo' Nizzle_?"

"Fuck- yes."

Cyrus simply smiled at T.J. and kissed him passionately. Amazingly, Cyrus was able to flip T.J. over, causing T.J. to smile at the sudden movement. After passionately kissing T.J. for a brief moment, Cyrus placed a ton of kissed from T.J.'s neck all the way down to his navel before covering T.J.'s length with his mouth.

"Cy..." T.J. moaned as Cyrus was sucking T.J. off. After nearly making T.J. orgasm, Cyrus flipped him over, lined up his length with T.J.'s hole and started to thrust into him.


	7. Past: Puppy Love

_The morning after, T.J. woke up and discovered that he was alone in Cyrus' bed. He got out of bed, stretched and then walked towards the window. He looked out the window and spotted Cyrus standing outside the house. He climbed out of the window, walked towards Cyrus and stood next to him. They simply stood in silence and took in the summer breeze for a few minutes._

_"Let's go." Cyrus said and they started to walk. They walked for a minute or two before Cyrus led T.J. to a hammock. They got in the hammock, Cyrus wrapped an arm around T.J.'s shoulders and they just relaxed in the hammock._

* * *

_Sometime later, Leslie had spotted Cyrus and T.J. cuddling in the hammock. Not totally surprised by the boy's closeness, she took a picture of the both of them and smiled before she walked away. Minutes later, both teens woke up from their slumber and looked at one another. T.J. suddenly leaned in and kissed Cyrus on the lips. As soon as the kiss was over, both teens sat up and when Cyrus moved closer to the other teen, T.J. sprang from the hammock and quickly fled, causing a confused Cyrus to watch his friend run away from him._

* * *

_Later that night, T.J. was joking and laughing with two other teens named Reed and Lester._

_"Liz likes this song." Reed said._

_"And you like Liz?" T.J. teased, and all three teens started to laugh._

_"No..."_

_"Of course you like her!"_

_"Alright, alright! Quit badgering me! I like her." Reed admitted as Cyrus spotted T.J. talking to two other boys around their age._

_"That girl is looking at you." Lester said, motioning to the girl that was looking and T.J._

_"You think?" T.J. asked._

_"Yes, she's looking at you, I saw her."_

_Cyrus walked up to them._

_"Hello." Cyrus greeted, and T.J. turned, looked at him once, ignored him and went back to talking to the other two boys._

_"What's up with Abby?" T.J. asked Lester. "Don't you like her?"_

_"She's pretty." Reed stated._

_"But what about Liz?" Lester asked Reed and T.J. started to laugh._

_Cyrus just walked away from them as they continued to ignore him._

* * *

_T.J. was walking alone when someone popped up in front of him and hit him in the arm causing him to look up._

_"Hey, what the fuck is wrong with you?" Cyrus demanded._

_T.J. looked down trying to process how he was going to say what he needed to say to Cyrus._

_"Hey!" Cyrus said as he pushed T.J. a bit to snap him out of his distraction._

_"We're moving to __Geneva__." A forlorn T.J. told him. "My dad took the job there."_

_They looked at each other for a brief moment in silence. Cyrus moved in to hug T.J. but T.J. pushed him away._

_"No." T.J. said._

_Cyrus simply looked at him before he turned away from T.J. and walked away from him. T.J. wanted to walk after him, but he couldn't bring himself to move and go after Cyrus so he simply stood in place watching Cyrus walk away. Minutes passed by after Cyrus walked away from him, when he decided to go to a spot where he could sit and ponder about how his life would be different now that he was moving away from his best friend._

_"Why?" A sad T.J. asked himself as he was sitting alone and looking at the moon. "Why now?"_


	8. Present: TJ's Happy Ending

The morning after they made love, Cyrus was simply looking out of his window and smoking a joint as T.J. woke up from his slumber. He threw his legs over the side of the bed, sat up and coughed causing Cyrus to turn and look at him before he looked out the window once more. He put out the joint, walked towards T.J. and kneeled in front of him.

"Have you seen my shorts?" Cyrus asked him. "The clean one that I left here when we hopped into bed?"

T.J. simply looked at Cyrus, who had a towel around his waist and wet hair.

"It stopped raining."

Cyrus then stepped away and went to the drawer to get a fresh pair of clothes while T.J. put on his own clothes. As they were getting dressed, T.J. had a realization.

"Your parents are outside." T.J. said.

"Yes."

T.J. stood up and pulled up his underwear and shorts.

"Your cell phone is in the living-room." Cyrus said, and T.J. sighed as he put on his shirt. Once his shirt was on, he ran his hand through his hair and waited for Cyrus to finish getting dressed.

* * *

Leslie and Todd were sitting at the outdoor dining table talking and drinking coffee when Cyrus and T.J. walked up to the table.

"You arrived so late!" Cyrus said, and Leslie turned around.

"Hello!" Leslie greeted, and she shot up out of her chair and hugged him. "You brought me the boxes, you're an angel."

Then she saw T.J. standing and she hugged him too while Cyrus and T.J hugged each other.

"It's so nice to see you." She said cupping his cheeks.

"How are you?"

"Fine."

"Good."

"So nice to see you, kid." Todd said as he hugged T.J.

"Come on, take a seat." Leslie told T.J. as she made him sit in her seat. "So, how was the return to our home?"

"Good, good. Very good." T.J. answered. "Well, here it seems that time didn't go by."

"Not here, but everything else did change quite a lot." Todd said as Cyrus took a bite out of his apple.

"Indeed." T.J. said as he started to eat.

"It's been a great surprise when Cyrus told us you were here." Leslie said as she looked at her son. "Why don't you sit down? You look like a horse, eating there on your feet."

Cyrus simply sat down and continued to eat his apple.

"For us, things went tricky, and then the rain..."

Leslie sighed as Cyrus and T.J. looked at one another.

"'Look at them." Leslie told Todd. "It looks like they're going fishing."

"Looking at them, I feel much older." Todd said.

T.J. chuckled.

"You're growing grumpier every day." Leslie said, and Todd chuckled.

Cyrus looked at his watch.

"Well, if we want to get there by noon, we should be leaving now." Cyrus told T.J. once he finished his apple.

"Already?" A crestfallen Leslie asked. "I thought you'd spend the day with us."

"T.J. has to go." Cyrus said as he got out of the chair he was sitting in and took a few steps away from the table.

"Well..." T.J. said as he put his fork down, because after all, he was leaving so early.

"Eat it, take it with you." Leslie said.

"No, It's ok." T.J. said as he got out of the chair he was sitting in.

Leslie got out of her seat and she hugged T.J. tightly.

"Will you come back?" She asked.

"Yes, and I promise this time it will be sooner." T.J. told her and she took his hand and walked towards Cyrus.

"Bye, and I don't want to see that look on your face." Leslie said as she hugged Cyrus and stood in between them. "Look at them."

Todd turned and looked at them.

"We must have done something good. They are so beautiful."

"Stop it!" Cyrus said and he stepped away from his mom.

"Let them go, they must be in a hurry." Todd said. "Take care, boys."

"Let's go." Leslie said as she led them into the house.

* * *

About fifteen minutes later, a freshly showered and changed T.J. was packing up his stuff as Cyrus was double checking his belongings in Cyrus' room. After Cyrus was done, he left the room leaving T.J. alone in the bedroom to finish up what he was doing. After T.J. finished, we went to the living room and looked at the picture that Leslie took of them when they were teenagers, sleeping in the hammock, cuddling one another.

"Take it with you, so you have a souvenir from here." Leslie said when she popped up next to him and took the picture from the bookshelf. "I'd like you to have it."

T.J. looked at the picture, even after Leslie left the living room. He smiled at the picture before he decided to put it back on the bookshelf and left the house.

* * *

It is several hours later, and this time, T.J. was driving back from the estate while Cyrus was simply staring out the windshield, not saying a word to the other man. That is until T.J. pulled over and put the car in park causing Cyrus to look at him.

T.J. took a deep breath before looking at Cyrus.

"Cyrus, I..."

T.J. then paused for a good minute or two.

"I understand." Cyrus told him as he nodded his hear in a forlorn manner. "You have your girlfriend over there, your job. Your whole life. And I don't want to deal with that."

T.J. simply looked at Cyrus who had a nonchalant look on his face. He wanted to tell Cyrus otherwise, but he couldn't so he huffed once, and started to drive off.

* * *

T.J. is now back at his apartment complex, simply dreading to go up the stairs and into the apartment. He stares for a long time before he makes his way to the apartment. He tries to open the door, but the key won't work.

"Are you there?" T.J. asked.

No response.

"Kira, are you there?"

* * *

After talking for quite some time, T.J. and Kira are sitting at the top of the stairs simply sitting in silence. He turned to look at her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged it off.

"Don't touch me." Kira said. "Please, don't touch me. I don't want you to feel sorry for me."

The looked at each other for a brief moment before she pat his back.

"Go, T.J." She said before she got up and went into the apartment. And with that, T.J. got up and started to move.

* * *

When the familiar store came into sight, he started to move quickly and once he stepped into the shop, instantly spotted Cyrus. He walked up to him, and stood right behind him before turning Cyrus over.

They looked at each other.

T.J. smiled and started to full on make out with Cyrus in the middle of the store while Mariah Carey's _We Belong Together _was playing while Buffy stopped folding the t-shirts that she was taking care of.

They pull away after a minute and stare at each other, smiling widely.

"Hi."

"Hi."

They start making out again, but only this time, T.J. was happy.

He'd gotten his happily ever after.


End file.
